Juneteenth: Paid Holiday?

Long story short: June 19th is not a paid holiday for us ATU Local 308/241 members.

Despite a confusing memoranda posted by the CTA Labor Relations department, we will not be paid for working on June 19th. Any and all paid holidays are bargained for by us as a union with the CTA. If we are to be paid for it, you would see such an agreement in writing:

• In the Collective Bargaining Agreement
• In a "side letter" Agreement

No such thing exists. I confirmed it with Local 308 Vice President Mark Weems shortly before composing this article.

I am sure you are disappointed. A brother posted this terse comment in response to Sister Secretary-Treasurer Deborah Cosey-Lane's Juneteenth greetings:

You got to admit that was a clever response! And it is true!

We must have Juneteenth as a paid holiday. However, we need to fight for it. I don't mean fight in secret meetings with lawyers. I mean fight like real unions fight (the "Contract" expires on December 31, 2023).

In the last "Contract" negotiations, it was actually written up and part of our proposals. Local 241 President Keith Hill allegedly told us we would need to "give up something" for it and it died.

Typical business unionist trope: Don't fight for what we want. Just give up what we won.

Anyway, I hope you will take this experience as a "teachable moment" and get to know our Collective Bargaining Agreement "Contract." Examine Article 9 (Local 241) and Article 10 (Local 308) so you can know fully which holidays are paid and how they can be used. 

The "Contract" is available for browsing online or as a download at this link or in the window below:

"The Contract" CT... by Chicago Transit Justice Coa...